Cypriots Lobby British Parliament 2010 4of14 Jim Sheridan and Matthew Offord

Added: 21-07-2010 12:24:44

Clip 4of14 - Jim Sheridan MP and Matthew Offord MP address the meeting. The speakers are introduced by Mr Peter Droussiotis who is President of The National Federation of Cypriots in the UK http://www.cypriotfederation.org.uk Jim Sheridan, Member of Parliament for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, said that politicians also had a role to educate British people in the "horrible history" of the Cyprus problem. He further stated: "I do not accept the argument that because Turkey is a large country and a large economy, that they can then ignore the atrocities that have taken place and the occupation." He added that "if they [Turkey] want to join the club of Europe then they have to meet the criteria," before calling for more action on accounting for people who went missing during the invasion of 1974 and are still unaccounted for. He also decried the destruction of the cultural and religious heritage in the occupied area. Hendon's new MP, Matthew Offord, then addressed the meeting, saying that "it is not acceptable that Turkey doesn't allow ships and other vessels from the island [of Cyprus] to use its ports" and that it showed "double standards when considering the recent flotilla that went to Israel and the comments Turkey made to Israel". He said that the United States has an important role to play but that the EU is also key, adding his support for Turkey's accession to the EU only upon three conditions being satisfied: the reunification of Cyprus, the return of property to its rightful owners and the missing people to be accounted for.

Tags: κύπρος τουρκική εισβολή Cyprus Britain PeterDroussiotis nationalfederation unitedkingdom lobby PalaceofWestminister Parliament Turkey deepstate Cypriots Greeks Turks war invasion occupation missingpeople humanrights europe eu europeanunion councilofeurope

Url:

Embed:

Related Videos

Category